Norad Keeps Eye On Sky - For Wrenches, Gloves, Etc.

March 1, 1995|By RICH TOSCHES Colorado Springs Gazette Telegraph

COLORADO SPRINGS — Somewhere in space, which I'm sure you know is a large area, there's a glove. It was dropped by an astronaut during a spacewalk as he reached for his pack of cigarettes while balancing a plate of hot nachos in the other hand, as I understand it.

But the amazing thing is not that a glove floats in the great void of space.

No, the amazing thing is that here in Colorado Springs are people who know exactly where that glove is 24 hours a day. Even on the major holidays such as Arbor Day.

There's also at least one wrench floating around up there, and they actually track that small hand tool, too.

The group is called NORAD (No Obvious Renches Avoid Detection) and is headquartered inside Cheyenne Mountain, Colo. It was built in the 1950s to provide a warning system against an air invasion of the United States or Canada.

Military officials admit that the facility - one-third of a mile inside the mountain - is not safe from today's nuclear weapons. However, it remains a very good place to be if we're attacked by, say, the Russian Olympic Archery Team.

Last week a group of newspaper reporters toured the facility, a place that bills itself as "NORAD: The Eyes and Ears of North America."

After parking our cars, the 12 of us went to a briefing room. We were told that beyond that point the possession of guns, knives, bombs, Mace and a host of other things is a felony. Eleven of us ran back to our cars and jammed assorted things under the seats.

Back in the lobby, we saw models of Russian aircraft, all decorated with that famous Soviet insignia that struck fear into much of the world for many years, the half-empty vodka bottle. In the early stages of NORAD's training program, the new guys are shown these model aircraft and told if they ever see planes like that flying around Cheyenne Mountain, for God's sake, tell somebody.

During a briefing by NORAD officials, we were told that the mind-boggling technological systems used to detect threats against North America "are staffed by professionals."This change, as you know, occurred in 1970 after the American military system had for a decade left the entire operation in the hands of the Broadmoor Ladies Club.

We were also informed that by the year 2000 there will be 20 nations capable of air attacks against North America. And a 21st, Lapland, already has the technology to lob adult caribou onto Bangor, Maine.

Next, we were shown rooms with computers and TV monitors, all linked to the world's most sophisticated surveillance systems. We were given a brief example of the procedure when a rocket launch is detected. First, telephones ring. Then, guys answer the phones, lean back in their chairs and shout across the room to a supervisor. This is done in highly classified military intelligence language.

An example of this would be, "Hey Jimmy! Guess what?''

The American staff is made up of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines. The Marines are warned in harsh military terms not to touch anything. Of course, that is just a joke.

Not a joke is that people work for up to 18 months inside the mountain, on duty for five days with the next three days off. Research has shown that after 18 months in the damp cave, a man will often start hopping around like a kangaroo and shouting out names of canned goods. At this point, some experts believe, his effectiveness in monitoring the security of North America is somewhat compromised.

The final stop was the Command Center, where information is gathered and passed along to higher levels of authority. In a real attack, the information would almost instantly be relayed to the nation's highest level of power in Washington, D.C.

And at some point, military leaders hope she would tell her husband, Bill.